He licks me, weaves my clothing back together, and slips off the couch. Plucking his knife off the ground, he settles it into a sheath that materializes within his garments as he adjusts them back in place over his shoulders, covering all the pretty pale skin.
I sit up. “Castor?”
“There are many things I must do alone to reach the cure. Once your part in it comes about, I will let you know.”
“I do have a part in it?” I ask.
He turns toward me, laces his fingers around my neck, and bends to kiss me. “Yes, love. You do. Perhaps the most important part of all.” He pauses, lips pulling away before I get a chance to taste them. “Ah.” He unlatches his fingers from my throat. “Healthy women probably don’t like choking.”
I pout, jutting my lip. “A lie.”
“Is…it?”
“Yes.” I bobblehead. “Trust me. I’ll get you some nice sweet romcoms to research. You’ll see choking everywhere in them.” Because I’ll make a post in a Leopard group asking for it specifically, then rig the data pool.
“Where, pray tell, is the line?” he murmurs.
I mellow. “I think…probably…the healthy part of a relationship is deciding the line for ourselves with clear and open communication.”
His thumb settles against my pulse. “I suppose that makes enough sense.”
While I’m on the topic. “Stabbing is also healthy, just so you know. Women love it.” I might have more trouble getting that in the research data, though. Not many sweet romcoms out there with stabbing, I bet. Shame.
A smile flirts with his lips. “Is it now?”
“Oh, absolutely.” My cheeks heat. “I can think of plenty of other things that are also healthy, but I’ll save that list for our wedding day.”
The warmth in my cheeks mirrors his, and he kisses my forehead. “I’ll be looking forward to that quite intently.”
“Same.” I catch the hem of his robes before he can pull away again. “And, just so you know, I am here for you, Castor. However I can be.”
Peace settles the rampant twists and turns of his emotions, steadying the music of our soul bond into a single clear note. “I know that, love.” His palm cups my cheek, lifting my face. “I apologize for the distance I’ve imposed on you emotionally these past few days. I’d thank you for your efforts this afternoon, but we both know you can’t handle it.”
First off, rude. Second off…true.
“Canyouhandle it?” I ask.
A brief laugh leaves him, and he taps my nose. “Oh, absolutely not, darling. Don’t even play with the idea ofthatuntil we’re wed.”
I hum. “The list grows longer already.”
“Enchanting.” He helps me to my feet. “I yearn to explore it with you.”
I hug him, and his heart lunges in response.
“What’s this for?” he whispers, slowly returning my embrace, then melting—helplessly—into it.
“Most of what’s happened just now is because I’m attracted to you, right?”
He swallows. “Y-yes. I sensed that.”
“Thisis because I like you. I genuinely, deeply, and thoroughly like you.”
His arms tighten around me, and pricks of emotion leave him raw. Finally, rough, he murmurs, “Forgive me, but you have all but forced my hand.” Breath fills him. And then he adds, “Thank you.”
I’m almost sure I hold on longer than I did last time he thanked me, but, inevitably, my part-human body is not strong enough to hold up against the brushing caress of Castor’s soul, and my consciousness slips away.
Chapter 38
